Photographer and activist Misan Harriman on how photos can change the world

Prolific photographer on a passion for activism, high-profile protests, and a Rebel County welcome, writes Esther McCarthy

Misan Harriman will be in Cork to discuss a documentary on his work. Picture: Lia Toby/Getty Images

The work of prolific photographer and activist Misan Harriman comes into focus in Shoot the People, as he examines how the power of protest can lead to change while capturing activism through his lens.

Harriman will join award-winning filmmaker Andy Mundy-Castle at the documentary gala screening of the film at the Everyman on November 14. The Cork International Film Festival screening moved to a bigger venue, driven by audience interest in seeing the film.

“I’ve never been to Cork, and by the sheer scale of interest, we’ve had to find a new cinema, and even that is sold out,” says Harriman. “The interest in this film is out of this planet, so I think the Rebel County is going to give me quite a welcome, and I can’t wait.”

In recent years, Harriman has become one of the most widely shared visual photographers of this age, largely through his work in documenting historic moments in recent history. The Nigerian-born British photographer was the first black person to shoot the cover of British Vogue’s September issue and has also photographed some of the world’s most successful stars.

Misan Harriman. Picture: Lia Toby/Getty Images

In Shoot the People, he leans into his own passions for photography and activism amid a broader historical context, as the film examines both the photographers and protesters who fired his imagination.

Among the most high-profile protests he has documented in recent years are those in London in support of Gaza and Palestine. What have his experiences been like in his encounters with those protesters?

“The protesters I met in the Palestine Liberation Movement, and I’ve shot these protesters now on three continents, are the very best of humanity. Everything from granny vicars to young kids, mums, extraordinary people from the Jewish community. I’ve seen it all, and what I see is the version of humanity that I want my children to be part of. What I see are people that are saying that maybe bombs on tents are not a way to build a future of shared humanity.

“It’s an extraordinary thing to observe, and I am deeply proud of the people I’ve met. I’ve seen it in Ireland, and I went to shoot the Sumud Flotilla in Barcelona. People like Greta (Thunberg), who has been resolute in her voice, people like Francesca Albanese, all the amazing Palestinian journalists that have paid too high a price for all of this. Health workers who are running towards the bullets.”

Though he only started working as a photographer seven years ago, Harriman had long loved the form and its power to foster change. He vividly remembers first seeing a photograph of Coretta Scott King at the funeral of her husband, Martin Luther King.

“I remember that image was the first image that made me realise that photos are much more than holiday snaps and birthday pictures. Photos can literally change the world.”

Years later, King’s son Martin Luther King III helped give voice to his work through social media, propelling the growing interest in Harriman’s work to audiences. “It didn’t feel real. The only living son of one of the greatest humans that has ever lived, looking me in the eye and telling me that my work matters? Are you joking?”

Misan Harriman reads out some of the names of over 15,000 children killed in Gaza in London. Picture: Justin Tallis / AFP via Getty Images

Harriman also remembers being moved by the work of acclaimed South African photographer Peter Magubane, who recorded the impacts of apartheid in his native country. One of Magubane’s most-famous images, of a white girl and her black nanny in a segregated area, is still vivid in his memory.

“I was very young when I came across those images, and they let me know that there is injustice in the world. I was young, but I was like: ‘How can I make that go away?’ Who knew many years later that I would find a medium to try and make some of that go away.”

Among the many photographs featured early in the film is one of Irish musician Sinéad O’Connor. Harriman encountered her at a Black Lives Matter protest, and although he says he was “too shy” to say hello to her, has long been inspired by the late singer’s activism.

“I look back on how we failed this woman. Look back at her moral compass being so correct. She’s always tried to just say the right thing, and she was destroyed for that. She was like a bird with broken wings that was still brave enough to roar for a better world, and we have to carry that legacy. So I think about that woman every single day of my life, and a big part of why I am unapologetic about my voice out there is because of people like her.”

Born in Nigeria, Harriman was educated in England and developed a love for the arts. As a photographer he is completely self-taught and as well as his reportage work, he has become a prolific photographer of well-known faces, including Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchett and Julia Roberts.

“I grew up worshiping all the great image makers, and I think portraiture is a delicate and beautiful art,” he says, citing the work of Sally Mann, Eve Arnold and Dorothea Lange.

“Gordon Parks did both civil rights work and shot for Vogue. I think I like to show my range as an image maker. I look for truth in all my subjects, and it gives me great visibility, but also allows me to be in the rooms of cultural zeitgeist and be very loud with my voice in those rooms as well. So it allows me to try and force change with many different levers.”

Misan Harriman speaking with David Oyelowo and Meghan Markle in California. Picture: Emma McIntyre via Getty Images

Among those he has most enjoyed working with are Kate Winslet, David Attenborough and Spike Lee. “My Vogue cover was with Marcus Rashford and then I did Lewis Hamilton shortly after that, for GQ Man of the Year. So it’s been a few and I feel very blessed.”

He has hopes of what audiences will take from seeing the CIFF festival screening of Shoot the People in Cork. “That we recognise that we’re better together, that we the people are the change that we want to see, and that we continue organising, lobbying, forcing our politicians to actually do their bloody jobs. Looking after the youth, especially the youth that don’t have a voice. We need to do all of that at scale, globally, and hopefully this film will help us continue on that journey.”

• Shoot the People screens at the Everyman as part of the Cork International Film Festival on November 14. Misan Harriman will be in attendance to discuss the film